Sorry to start another thread about the same issue, but I've just been told by a Ford garage that the gearbox oil in my 2.0 Focus can't be changed due to the fact that there's no drain plug!!!
Can anyone confirm this? Surely the gearbox oil has to be changed later in the car's life?!?
When I queried this with the Ford garage I was told that oil can be added but not drained. I put it to him that the oil in the gearbox would therefore last the lifetime of the car and he agreed...
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Place a bucket on the floor. Undo the oil filler, then hold the car upside down over the bucket until all the oil has drained out.
A similar technique can be used for bleeding Land Rover brakes, where the bleed nipple is the lowest point in the system (and therefore, not where the air is). Turning the vehicle onto its roof allows the brakes to be bled.
Seriously, this sort of penny-pinching annoys me. The oil may well last the lifetime of the car, but what if it gets caught in floods and the gearbox oil ends up contaminated with water? Won't be long before they do away with sump plugs, and the only way to drain the engine oil will be to suck it out through the dipstick hole.
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Richard,
Is the brake bleeding problem you describe with the 11" twin leading shoe set-up. All the ones I've owned have been the 10" drums with a single wheel cylinder at the top and a bleed nipple in the right place.
Hear a lot of grumbling about the point you make on the Land Rover Forums.
David
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Remove one of the drive shafts, this should remove at least 70% of the oil
Matt
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This is probably a syringe and flexible plastic tube job, but the gearbox will need to be nice and warm in order to reduce the viscosity of the oil, and it may be fiddly trying to ensure that the tube has reached the bottom of the gearbox.
How about the sort of pumps that are sold for draining sum oil via the dipstick tube?
Ian
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Sadly I'm no mechanic (unless it involves working under the hood of a PC), so the gearbox oil will just have to stay where it is :(
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Phil
Very common I'm afraid.
On the Ford gearboxes I've come across most of the oil could be drained by unscrewing the Reverse interlock unit (I think it's called). Safer than it sounds! May still be the same.
Alternatively removing a cover plate (and replacing with new gasket) is the way to go - eg Vauxhalls.
As has often been said, worth doing after a few tens of thousands of miles.
Regards
John
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I thought they used a vacuum device down the pipe to empty the sump when the oil is changed. No need to grubby their hands underneath.
Reminds me of the A2 with it's little pull out service tray.
Colin
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a friend in the trade, works at the main dealer ford in shiremoor, he says that you can get a specialist to drill a hole and fit a sump plug to the car, as loads of people are complaining about this daft design idea. the job is probably better then it sounds, i dont know.
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David W
11 inch drums it is. The SWB vehicles are much easier to bleed, but the brakes are hopeless anyway.....
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